St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1887-04-16

lates that Francis ILL.,, returning "a
Madrid, bcheld young unbearled
youths. who carried swords by their
sides, upon which the king said: %
thrice happy Spain! wherein are born
children and men ready armed" The
Toledo blades are highly esteemed in
England. as shown by several passages
in Ben JonsOn. Butler and Shakespeare.
1t is scarcely necessary to say that the
cspadas 7oledanas were not less priced
i'm Spain.
The author of the vida de Lazarillo
de Tornes," who wrote in 1925, thus
causes Toledan squire, who served
his hero. to speak Of . sword: 20. If
thou only knewest, boy, what weapon
1 have here! Not for all the yellow gold
in the world would I sell it; for in all
the blades that Antonio hath wrought,
none equaleth this one"
The steel used by the cspaderos of
Madrid was obtained in an iron mine.
situated about three miles from Nam
dragon, in the Basque provinces.
victorious sword! Thy blade is OF
Mandragon, and thou vast tempered at
Toledo"
According to Palomeus. u Toledan
swortl-maker Of the last century, it is an
error to suppose that the Toledans pre-
served particular secrets for the temper
ing of their arms. They were COM
PEELED to use the water of the Tagus, as
well as the fine white sand that the
river contains in its bed. The sand. to
the experts. served for the operation OF
what they termed refrescar Ia calda. to
cool the heat; for when the metal be-
came red. and commenced to throw of
sparks. the cspoderos instantly sprinklcd
it with this sand. The blade formed,
they proceeded to temper it in the fol-
lowing manner: Part of the middle of
the fire was followed out. and in the
hollow was placed the blade, SO that
four-fifths of it only was exposed to the
fire. the tongue and hilt resting outside.
The blade having become cherry red.
they plunged the point into a wooden
reservoir, full of the water of the Tagus;
and having once cooled it, they straight
ened it as much as was desirable. They
then subjected such of the blade as had
not hitherto been exposed to the fire;
and when it commenced to redden.
they took it by the tongue with rcd-hot
pinchcrs. and plunged it into sheep suet
until it cooled. an operation which i'm
parted temper to it.
The most ancient TOledan espadcro,
or swOrl-maker, of whom mention is
made, is Julian. surnamed e' Moro. or
the Moor. on account of his coming
from Granada. where he worked toward
the end Of the fifteenth century for King
Boablil. They also surnamcd him
Julian del Ray. because upon his con-
version to Christianity, had for a god
father no less illustrious \ parsonage
than Ferdinand. the Catholic.
Having hired a conveyance drawn by
pair of gayly caparisoned mules. the
driver wearing a pOrS-pic hat and
blood-red sash. l was driven out to the
Fabrica de .drmas. which is situated on
the right bank of the Tagus. about a
mile and half outside Of the city walls.
This sole manufactory Of Toledan blades
is very unprctcntisus building of rec
tangular form. completed. as the in
scription over the entrance Informed
me, in 1880. Charles ILL.,, who made
SO many efforts to encourage Spanish
manufacture. resolved upon revivifying
the ancient craft of the cspadcros. and
constructed the factory. So low had
the reputation of the Toledan espaeieros
fallen. that the king was compelled to
send to Valencia for maker Of swords,
Luis Calisto. whom he appointed di-
rector Of the works.
A very polite. mutton-chop whiskcred
official escorted me over the works
for this manufactOry is to-day used in
the fabrication of arms for the army
and explained the process for sword
making in use at present. The ancient
mode of manufacture has been aban-
done,l. both as regards forging and
tempering. whilst the iron now employed
comes from Germany. The sand of the
Tagus is no longer used. and the sheep
suet is replaced by soap. However, the
arms still turned out are Of excellent
quality. and in the sala de prwentas, or
proof-room. had the satisfaction of
testing blades that rolled themselves
several times upon themselves like SER
pents. aud that sprang into straightness
in flash.
But that which has been lost is the
form and elegance. invested in
blade, as in duty bound. paying. there
for. about twenty-three dollars, but it
is no longer in Toledo that the good
blades are found; they are snapped up
by museums and by collectors. the pc
rillo fetching up to two hundred and
fifty dollars. Ny bachelor friend is en-
chanted with his blade. He has sus-
pended it from the ceiling. and ! care
fully avoid that portion Of the room over
which, like the sword of Damoclcs, it 80
threateningly hangs.-Nugc"a Robin
SON, in Yoush's Companion.
On every road since railway trains
to turn their wheels began. at erery
station you will see solitary man.
His brow is damp with beaded sweat.
his heart with woe is cleft. Most earn
estly he wants to go. the man that's
always left. If the train due at one p.